Young Minds
by Stave Leonheart
Summary: A fic not updated for a very long time. Recently continued on a whim. Warning: terrible characterizations, weak plot, and generally written by a thirteen year old. Recently continued by the nineteen year old version of that thirteen year old.
1. 1

Squall Leonheart smiled at the crew of 6-year-olds before him. They were laughing and talking, speaking of cooties and all of the little kid things. They were all standing out in the sun in front of the Garden. They had not seen him approach so none of them were standing at attention. They would in ten years be elite SeeDs. Trained from age six to fight and command.   
  
"So think that you can handle them commander," Rinoa asked.  
  
Squall rolled his eyes. He hated to be called commander.  
  
"They all seem so young," Rinoa continued.  
  
Squall looked over at Rinoa and smiled. "They all also look eager."  
  
Finally one of the children noticed Squall and stood at attention before him. When he did others followed suit. Squall smiled. They all seemed to want to impress him. Ever since he and his friends had defeated the sorceress they had had immense fame. It was sometimes annoying to Squall. Even when he had begun to go out with Rinoa it was hard to find anyplace alone outside of the Garden. Sometimes he just wanted everyone to just leave him alone.  
  
The first thing that Squall did was put the children into a formation. He sorted them alphabetically. The only problem that ensued was that the boys and the girls could not easily be placed next to eachother. The all whined about cooties. Squall rolled his eyes and told them that they would be working together and if they wanted out then they were welcome to the door. That most certainly quieted them down. All of them were amazingly pleased to get to become SeeDs so early. Most couldn't start training until at least 16. They would be done by then, or at least that was the plan.   
  
Squall then went on to show them all of the weapons that they would begin to learn. They would have to learn how to use them all at least mildly well to graduate as Elite SeeDs. When the first weapon came out all sorts of talking broke out which Squall had a time trying to stop. When he was almost so exasperated that he was about to send them all to the disciplinary committee Rinoa cast an amazing spell that made it so their mouths shut and would not open. Squall smiled at her and said "I believe I need to introduce you to your magic teacher the sorceress Rinoa Heartly." She shot Squall a look that meant death. She hated to be called "the sorceress". Squall smiled. He had to get her back for the commander. Rinoa stepped forward and let them open their mouth again and smiled.  
  
Lately Rinoa had been perfecting her power. She was now able to cast spells such as ultima with ease. She had begun to create he own spells. She even now had the ability to create draw points. It was almost odd. She had her own storage room which held draw points where the weakest were ultima and there must have been at least 50 different spells that you could draw. And those were only the ones that she could put into a draw point. She had countless ones that were to powerful for any draw point to contain it. So basically she had POWER.  
  
"Sorry about that. I just needed you all to be quiet. I wanted to tell you all that since you are so talkative we might need to get another group in here. You kids don't have the discipline to be SeeDs. Or do you?" Said Rinoa, stressing the word kids.  
  
They all looked sheepish. Finally one stood forward and said, "I have disapine."  
  
Squall and Rinoa laughed lightly.  
  
"Discipline," said Squall.  
  
"Discipline," she said.  
  
"Well we will see then won't we." Answered Squall.  
  
Finally Squall managed to pull out the whip without interruptions. He taught them all about it and handed them each their own. They began to whip just about anything when they got theirs. Finally when they were all out the air was full of, "Swweeee Snap Swweeee Snap" Squall smiled at the kids all using the whips making dents in the dirt. One of the boys there accidentally hit a girl and she snapped hers back at him. In an instant a whole fight broke out.  
  
Squall looked up to see it and yelled, "STOP!"  
  
They all stopped at such a loud demanding command. Rinoa walked into the crowd. She looked at the boy. He had blood flowing down his face and torn clothes. She used a curemauth on him. It was one of the stronger cures she had made. She no longer carried anything less.  
  
Squall walked over to the girl who had nothing but a light scratch and used a cure on her. Then Squall took them off about a 100 yards away from the kids and said, "So do you two think that you can handle being a SeeD? It doesn't look like it."  
  
The girl looked up and said, "He hit me!"  
  
The boy squeaked, "On accident."  
  
"Did you say you were sorry," Squall asked slightly annoyed.  
  
"Had no time," the boy responded.  
  
"Well there is plenty of time now."  
  
"Sorry," he said amazingly quietly.  
  
"What?" the girl asked.  
  
"Sorry"  
  
"Good," said Squall, "Now go back and if I find that there was another fight I might have to send you home."  
  
Squall shook his head as they left to go back with their friends. Rinoa came up behind Squall and said, "You have a way with children."  
  
"Got it from my sis'" he answered.  
  
Rinoa smiled. Well let's go back. They kissed briefly and headed back to teach the kids how to exercise and how to use the whips." 


	2. 2

Queen Juile sat upon her throne surveying the surrounding area. She was in a castle not far from Balmb. It was a floating castle so it rocked under the waves. Juile smiled at the crew before her. It would be all see needed to take over this planet past and present. All she needed now was the one called Rinoa. Then she could get at the leader of the SeeDs Squall. She smiled bitterly. Squall was training 6-year-olds while he should be plotting a plan to save the world. Well she would rock his world. She told them to plot a course for Galbadia. She had a country to take.  
  
Queen Juile sat upon her throne, in her floating castle, surveying the surrounding area. Fighters of the highest class surrounded her. She smiled at them. They would be her tools to take over the planet, past and present. All of the greatest scientists, even some shape shifters. She had all she needed but one girl. The girl that had the entire world's sorceress powers. She just needed Rinoa. But that wouldn't be too hard.  
  
"Zertz, come here," she beaconed.  
  
The expert politician came forward. "Yes, my queen?"  
  
"I need you to take over the presidency in Galbadia. I want there to be my country for building dark SeeDs."  
  
"Yes, my Queen."  
  
Juile smiled. She had almost all she needed to destroy all SeeDs and take over the world.  
  
Back at the Garden Squall, the high commander of SeeDs, was training 6-year-olds. "Why me?" thought Squall. He remembered back to the time when Cid had given him the mission.  
  
"Cid, come on why do I have to do this? Can't you give the mission to Zell?"  
  
"Squall you know that these kids look up to you. You also know that Zell has no where near the experience that you do."  
  
Squall, in the present, sighed. The kids were beginning to annoy him. None of them could sit still for very long so teaching a technique was hard. They all seemed to think that since they were the best they did not have to train hard because they already were better than others were at their age. This was put to the side when Squall fought one of them who thought that she was the best. Her name was Kirst, and she was very good but Squall was of course better.   
  
Rinoa was over with them teaching them to draw. They had been given GFs and instructed on the fact that they needed to keep journals. Right now he saw some of the kids drawing from a draw point that Rinoa had created. Squall watched as Kirst drew before she was told to and fried another kid. The spell that she drew was one of the new ones Rinoa had made. She had made it for only the kids. It was called Fir. It was a weak form of Fire. Rinoa had to heal the kid and then reprimand Kirst who was grinning. The kid she had fried was not really hurt just scared.  
  
Finally when the kids had finished drawing she began to teach them how to cast it. Rinoa finally, after being able to calm them from the excitement of Fir, got to teach them about other spells that they would soon be able to draw and cast. It was difficult trying to teach 6-year-olds. They all were disorganized but in the end it would most likely pay off. Squall smiled as one of the kids bored of magic went for the whip. He pulled it out to have it confiscated by Rinoa.  
  
"Take this," she said to me as she handed it to Squall.  
  
Finally they got through the whole class. Squall watched as all of the kids go back to their rooms. Rinoa walked over to me and kissed him lightly.  
  
"So how did your class go?" She asked Squall.  
  
"Fine"  
  
She smiled. That "fine" was as much as saying: IT WAS THE WORST EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.  
  
"It won't be long before the discipline they need sets in. It is only their second day after all."  
  
"I suppose," he responded.  
  
Then they walked hand in hand back to their room.  
  
Selphie and Irvine were walking through the streets of Galbadia headed towards the stand where they could get a voter's pamphlet. They were here to monitor who became the president of Galbadia. They needed to see if he might pose a threat to the garden. They picked up the pamphlet and started to head back to their room reading it. Suddenly three thugs jumped out of an alley and knocked them unconscious. They didn't have a chance to fight back.  
  
Juile smiled as the two SeeDs were brought in unconscious to her. She would have fun killing these two. Then she would have even more leverage over the SeeDs. After all who would want this more than the daughter of Ulticimia.  



	3. 3

A few months later...  
  
Four of Juile's best shape shifters had just entered the garden. They had a mission to separate Squall and Rinoa in the worst possible way. They went in with the crowds to set up for the emotional onslaught.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall had the ring. He had been waiting a long time for this day and now he was frustrated. He couldn't find Rinoa. If he was going to propose to her she had to be around to see it. He went off and finally found Quistis.  
  
"Have you seen Rinoa?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, she just went into the training area," she responded.  
  
"Thanks," he said smiling showing her the ring.  
  
"Oh, she will love it."  
  
"I know"  
  
Squall headed into the training area and eventually found his way back to the secret area. He opened the door to it and stepped in. What he saw shattered his heart. Rinoa was kissing Siefer, his most hated rival, deeply. Squall dropped the box that carried the ring. Rinoa finally noticed Squall and broke from her kiss.  
  
"I was going to tell you..." she started.  
  
Those words only tore at the broken pieces of his heart. She had betrayed him. He ran out. Not willing to cry in front of her.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa was walking through the halls searching for Squall. She had seen a ring in his room and figured out the fact that he was going to propose. She wanted to be close that way he would not have to search for her.  
  
Finally she saw him. He was walking hand in hand with a girl that she didn't recognize. She looked at him confused.  
  
"I have something to tell you, Rinoa," he started.  
  
She stared at him blankly.  
  
"I just asked Gil here to marry me. She said yes. I meant to tell you..." he said lightly.  
  
Rinoa watched as Squall kissed the girl deeply and left. She began to cry and ran from the Garden.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall in his run bumped into Quistis. Squall was fighting back tears and Quistis could see that.  
  
"What's wrong Squall?" She asked.  
  
"I went to ask Rinoa to marry me..." he began.  
  
"Surely she didn't say no," said Quistis.  
  
"I-I found her in the arms of-of Siefer," he answered and ran off heartbroken.  
  
Quistis felt a pang of guilt that a part of her was happy that Rinoa had run off and that Squall was open. She followed Squall thinking that she might be able to comfort him.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall went to his room and began to cry. "Why?" He wondered. "How could she do this to me. What did I do wrong?"  
  
Squall felt as if his heart might have been pulled out and roasted on a spit. It was the most pain he had ever felt in his life but he didn't even have a scratch.  
  
Quistis came in and held him close to her. He cried on her shoulder needing somewhere to go.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa ran out of the Garden and tripped. She seemed to have lost track of where she was going. She was hurt so badly that it was blinding. Everything was blurry and she couldn't stand. She just wailed. It was like she had had her entire life put on one thing and then suddenly had it taken forcefully away. "How could he do this." She wailed.  
  
She lay there and cried for a very long time.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
The shape shifters left the Garden their job finished. Now all they had to do was to tell Siefer that he could go out to find Rinoa now. It was time for him to comfort her.  
  
Juile laughed as the shape shifters came back. They all had done their part well. She looked to the bodies of the two captured SeeDs and had them sent back to the Garden. More emotional havoc to reek.  
  
{Author's note: Sorry about all of the spelling and grammar errors. If you could give me feedback it would be amazingly appreciated. I want to know how you like it. I also want to say that if you have any questions or comments then you can either put them on the reviews (which I check every day) or email me at stpat@worldaccessnet.com}  



	4. 4

"Cid I want to stop. Get someone else to replace me. I don't want to be a SeeD anymore." Squall said blankly.  
  
Cid looked seriously at Squall and said, "Squall it is your duty. You can't just quit SeeD. Now I under stand that you are in a lot of pain but-"  
  
"Just get me off this mission then. I can't stand it."  
  
"No. All of the children have worked with you for months. Now I will put Quistis on your team to help you teach but you need to continue this. Even though Rinoa was irresponsible and ran off you have no right to. Now is that all?"  
  
Squall left blankly. Cid stared after him and wondered if he had done the right thing. He had put him on the path that wouldn't allow him to sink too far into depression. Or so he hoped.  
  
Squall walked out and Quistis met him.  
  
"You will be replacing Ms. Heartly."  
  
Quistis looked at him concerned. Ever since Rinoa had left him he had referred to he only as Ms. Heartly. They went their separate ways and Squall went off to his room.  
  
Squall lay down on his bed and tried to sleep. He had had very little sleep the last night. SHE did this to him. How could she? He had again lost the most important thing to him. He had been right. He should never rely on anyone. If he did then he would only end up hurt. Squall pulled out his gunblade and looked at it seriously. Such power it had. He could end all of the pain right here, right now. He would never have to feel it again. He began to press it against his heart, the area of the most pain to him now.  
  
Quistis had gone back to her room but couldn't help thinking about Squall. He was in so much pain. All she wanted now was to be with him. She wondered if she really did love him. Maybe if she saw him she could sort it all out. She began to head to his room. When she got there she knocked on the door.... No answer. She opened the door to see Squall with his gunblade to his heart about ready to kill himself.  
  
"NO!" she screamed as she barely got it from his hands.  
  
He looked up at her stunned and then she saw some tears slip out. He needed someone to help him get through this. She really hated Rinoa now. Quistis sat down beside him and held him like you might a baby. He weeped and eventually fell asleep in her arms. Finally she managed to get to sleep there with him.   
  
When Squall woke the next morning he found himself under the covers of Quistis bed. Quistis had her head resting on the side of the bed and was sleeping. "Had she stayed there all night with me?" Squall thought. He got up and headed back to his room. It felt somewhat good that at least someone cared whether he lived or died. The pain of Rinoa didn't fade though and he began to prepare for the class in silence.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa woke up to see that she was in an apartment. She could barely move because she was so sick. Everything was blurry as she looked around. The room she was in was small and it seemed sort of chaotic. It was so totally unlike Squall. The though of him made her wince. She still loved him and probably always would even if he didn't love her.  
  
Rinoa's vision slowly came back and she saw that Siefer was sleeping on a nearby bed. She sat up suddenly releasing that it was Siefer. He heard her and slowly got up to look around. When he saw her he smiled.   
  
"Sleeping Beauty finally up huh?" he said.  
  
"Why am I here?" Rinoa asked.  
  
"I found you out in a field near the docks. You were amazingly sick. It looked like you had been out in the rain for hours."  
  
"Oh"  
  
"Why were you out there?"  
  
"None of your business!"  
  
It still hurt for her to think about it. The nonchalant manner of Squall as he kissed that evil woman.  
  
"Ok... want something to eat?"  
  
Rinoa's stomach growled at the thought of food.  
  
"Going to poison me so you can bring me into your new master?"  
  
Siefer mocked being hurt at this.  
  
"What? It was nothing personal throwing you to Adel. That was all Ulticimia. She had me under her spell."  
  
Rinoa wasn't quiet sure she believed this but her stomach did as a steaming plate of pancakes was served to her. Rinoa dug in.  
  
"You look like you haven't eaten for days," he said siting across from her.  
  
"It feels like it."  
  
"So do you have a place to stay?"  
  
Rinoa looked up suspiciously.  
  
"I just want to help. I want, no need to make up for Adel. I feel so bad about that."  
  
Rinoa wanted to believe him. She looked up and said, "No, I have no where to stay right now."  
  
"You can stay with me if you want."  
  
Rinoa thought. So far he hadn't done anything to her. He certainly could have done something; he had had the chance.  
  
"Thank you, I will"  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall had just set up for another lesson. The kids had been told that Rinoa had left for a long while on a mission and that Quistis would be taking over. Quistis smiled at the kids. They had made great friends with Squall over the months that they had spent together. Squall had told her about a troublesome one that he really liked. "I think her name is Kirst." She thought, "Yes that's it."  
  
She looked across the crowd of assembled children who all looked eager to get started after the weekend. Kirst seemed to be missing when Quistis did role call. Quistis looked around and finally spotted her. She was sneaking up behind Squall. Quistis smiled.  
  
Suddenly Kirst cast a fire spell on Squall who hit his limit break. The limit break which could whip out mountains the lionheart. Squall looked down at Kirst and realized it was her. He dropped all of the power that he had gathered through his high strung emotions and the he yelled, "Kirst, what are you doing?!"  
  
"I-" she began but was cut of by Squall, who yelled, "Get in line I am NOT in the mode."  
  
Kirst looked determined not to cry but Quistis saw a tear come down as she got into her place. Quistis walked over Squall and took him of to the side.  
  
"What are you THINKING?" she whispered harshly.  
  
"Leave me-" he began but was cut off by Quistis, "Alone? NO. You just hurt a little girl out there. She use to think you as her hero, now look her."  
  
"I don't-" he began again but was cut off once more, "Care? Well you have to. It is your job. If you do not care then go over there and explain to all of the kids that you don't give a damn about any of them and that that is why you need to leave."  
  
Squall stood silently and then left back to the crowd of kids. He went through his whip class and at the end of it, when all of the kids were headed of to lunch, he called Kirst over. She came over with eyes filled with hurt and anger. He knelt down to her level and said, "I'm sorry about earlier. I am very sad at Rinoa's departure. I can't think very clearly right now and have a lot of pent up feelings. You set them all off right there and they weren't meant for you. Will you forgive me?"  
  
Kirst looked to Squall and smiled, "Of course. But if you have all that emotion why don't you talk with someone. I would listen and I'm sure Quistis would too."  
  
Squall was shocked. He looked to her and smiled. "OK I will. Go off and eat lunch now."  
  
Squall watched her go and smiled. She seemed to always know what was right to do so he went over Quistis.  
  
"Do you think, I mean, could you..." he began.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Could I talk to you tonight. I think that I just need someone to talk to."  
  
Quistis smiled and said, "Of course."  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wanted to say that this is a rough draft so sorry for all of the errors. I also wanted to say that if you have any questions write them in the reviews {which I check every day} or e-mail me at Stpat@worldaccessnet.com. Also if you want me to keep writing then write a review that says so. It is all of your guys' reviews that keep me writing.]  



	5. 5

It was about 4 months later. Squall had seemingly got over Rinoa. He felt that the world had come down around him but Quistis had gently helped him through it. She had always seemed to be there right when he needed her. She was there whenever he began to cry and often slept I near him so she could comfort him when he dreamt of Rinoa. Squall had found Quistis now to be his best friend. In the class the children were taking their final test on whips and all were pretty darn good and they were only six.   
  
Quistis desperately wanted to sort out the feelings she had for Squall. He seemed to always be in some need of her. She constantly felt for him. Was it... love? She often slept near him just to be there for him. She had a newfound hated towards Rinoa. What right did she have to put Squall through all of this? Quistis mostly just wanted Squall to show any signs of the feelings that she felt for him but all he seemed to find with her was just a good friendship.  
  
Rinoa Heartilly was beginning to think that her life was destined to be miserable. She had been with Siefer now for about 4 months. 4 long months. She just wanted it all to end. It had been about two weeks into her stay with Siefer when he had asked her out. They went to a movie together and it seemed alright. Siefer was nice and seemed to genuinely like her. She wanted to replace the hole in her heart. Yet somehow Siefer could never replace Squall. Siefer was to full of himself. He seemed just to want to please himself and almost never had thoughts about what Rinoa wanted. He just seemed to see that she was beautiful and was going out with him. She had perhaps gone out with him as a response to the hole in her heart that Squall left. She dreamt about him every night and wondered often what he was doing.  
  
Siefer was pleased. It was almost time for Juile to act. Then he could finally be rid of that sappy girl Rinoa. She always seemed to be grieving for Squall. At first it had seemed fine. His awesome times with her and her seeming admiration for him. Then she had hit a barrier it seemed. She moaned about Squall in the middle of the night and often seemed to cry for no reason. Well, Siefer knew the reason. She couldn't get over Squall.  
  
Juile was prepared. She had the machine set up that would extract Rinoa's power. She was all ready for it to work all she needed now was the girl. She smiled. The girl that was in Siefer's arms. Then she could get rid of him. That weakling. How she had ever found a use for him she did not know. But now she would soon be rid of him. All she wanted to know now was why the bodies of the two SeeDs she had killed had never arrived at the garden. She needed them to further break Squall's spirit.  
  
"Zorn, Thorn, go find the bodies of the SeeDs and find out why they never made it to the Garden. Also take care of Quistis Squall's best friend. Then deliver them together to the garden. That will take care of Squall."  
  
He might even kill himself.  
  
Squall found himself beginning to enjoy the company of the children. They brought up his spirit and now had the discipline to sit still when told. They no longer fried eachother at sight and boys could be put next to girls. Squall especially like the company of Kirst. She seemed convinced that ever since that time when she had managed to cast fire on him that she could defeat him in battle. Almost every weekend she would come over to the garden, from Balamb with her family, and practice with him. She wanted to be as good as him and was trying hard. She was at least 3 or 4 months ahead of her class and could now use her fists in a fight with ease. She had managed this skill when Squall would disarm her of her whip.  
  
The kids were ridged attention as Squall went by to inspect. They all seemed to want to impress him here on the day of the test. Only Kirst seemed her usual self with the top button on her uniform undone so she looked sort of sloppy. Squall continually had to remind her of the fact that when in uniform she was to have the top button done. The other thing that she had that made her seemed more relaxed was the sloppy grin that she always wore. She looked to him and then gave one of her mock serious faces that made him grin at her as he fixed her top button.  
  
After the inspection they began the test. It started with Anderson, Chris and went in order of last names. They had to display control over the weapon in numerous situations. When it got to Kirst she came out and whipped the target to pieces in two swift and efficient swipes. All of the others took around twenty. When she got to the part of the test where she had to try to hit Squall she did one of the most complex moves that they had the option of learning. None of the other kids could even come close to doing it. She managed to pull of hitting him in her first swipe. He smiled at her as she went back with her congratulating peers. She easily was the best there. After all of the whip tests there came the magic tests. Quistis had them draw a cure from the one in opening of the garden and cast it. She also had them call upon their GF. After all that they were sent in for a written test. Stave and Quistis smiled at the kids and began to write out reports on how well the children were doing.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Later that night, when Rinoa had finally gotten to sleep, Siefer got up. He had to attach this mechanical mind controller to Rinoa. For a while she would be under the control of it. With that Juile could finally extract the powers from the Young Sorceress. He silently walked over to her sleeping form and smiled. She was so beautiful lying there. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. She stirred slightly and Siefer grinned. Maybe he would have a little fun before he brought her to Juile. Siefer began to head to the closet where the mind controller was when he heard "Stay with me please," from Rinoa. He walked over to her sleeping form and smiled.  
  
"I will be here don't worry." He said lightly.  
  
"Please never leave me Squall."  
  
Siefer got up and headed for the mind controller. He no longer wanted anything to do with the sappy girl. He attached it and headed for Juile's place.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
The two assassins Zorn and Thorn went out silently into the night. They had heard from some people in Balamb that two SeeDs had been found dead in a forest outside the city. They were identified as SeeDs by the uniform that they wore. Zorn and Thorn headed for the Graveyard. Here they would find the corpses that way they could take them to the Garden. It would be easy. Almost too easy.  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about any parts that flow wrong or that have errors. Again this was a rough draft because I wanted to get the next part out here. Again I will say that if you have nay questions, comments, or suggestions that you can email me at Stpat@worldaccessnet.com. Either that or put them in the reviews {which I check every day}. I would also like to thank all of my great reviewers especially Momiji who has put a review on every one. It is all of the reviews that I get that keep me writing.]  



	6. 6

Zorn and Thorn slowly crept their way through the graveyard when a thought struck Thorn.  
  
"Zorn, why don't you go off and kill that Quistis girl while I work in the graveyard. That would be the easiest. Then we could get both jobs done at the same time," he said under his breath, though there was no one around.  
  
Zorn smiled at the thought of him being the one with the fun job and said, "Ok meet you back here right after midnight."  
  
Zorn left on his way to go find the Girl named Quistis. Thorn meanwhile was headed towards the grave of the SeeDs when he suddenly came face to face with the barrel of a gun.  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"Don't move!"  
  
Zorn froze suddenly recognizing the figure behind the gun. It was one of the SeeDs that had been killed. Well apparently not killed. He was trying to think of how to get out of this situation when a solid wood object slammed into his face. He was out cold.  
  
Irvine sighed. They had fought so hard to get back to Balmb and now they had this crisis to worry about. They had managed to activate their SeeD life savers before they were killed. The life saver made it so that they would not actually be killed but at will they could stop their hearts and stop their breathing. They would never lose consciousness. It was all due to some life retaining magic made by Odine. The magic was designed so they would appear dead and would for the most part be dead. They had been packed away in some compartments but sadly Irvine had blinked when they were bringing the bodies out to put in the mailing package to the Garden. It had been a nasty fight and one that Selphie was not ready for. Then they had to begin their trip home.  
  
If they had tried to contact the Garden then there was no guarantee that the person who answered would not be a shapeshifter. They had overheard a conversation from two of the packaging crew that talked about the plan for the shapeshifters. If it was a shapeshifter then they would be killed when they got to the garden. Now he had a plan. He would need to ask who ever he was talking to a question that only he or she would know. Not only that but now they had to save Quistis. Life was hard. They set out for the Garden.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa felt as if she was in the worst dream of her life. Siefer was in full control of her by a remote control. It seemed to have a direct link to his head so he could instruct it on the more complicated things. He could make her do anything he wanted and she had no clue what his final objectives were. Right now though they had set out on a journey. They had gotten onto a waiting plane and now that they were on the plane Siefer had decided to have a little fun. She was forced to take off all of her clothes and dance. She wondered how far this might go and mentally cried. She wished Squall was here.  
  
Siefer was having some good fun. Not only did the controller work to have her do anything but it could sense her feelings too. He was having a fun time trying to find a right dance to bring up her discomfort. He smirked as the meter went higher at his prying eyes.  
  
Juile just wanted the plane to get here faster. Siefer was just having fun and ordering the plane to move as slowly as it could while still flying. She would kill him when he got here. Or maybe she would leave him to Squall... yes a much more fitting punishment...  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Zorn made his way into the Garden. He had to hook onto the wall; not being a shapeshifter made it hard. He climbed the wall to Quistis' bedroom window. Here he would plant the bomb.  
  
Quistis was feeling nervous. She wanted to tell Squall how she felt about him but she wasn't sure that he would accept her. She hoped that he might go out with her as she paced her room thinking. It was just then when she heard Squall cry out. It was another bad dream he must have had. Here she would ask him.  
  
Squall was standing out in a field searching for something. He couldn't tell what he was in search of or how he had gotten there. Somehow though the place seemed familiar and the search desperate. He needed what he was looking for and whatever it was needed him to find it. It was an almost alluring sight when he saw her out in the middle of the field. She was beautiful and somehow he knew her but knew that he was forever separated from her. He couldn't quite grasp the concept. Suddenly he felt another force come in. It was evil and filled with hatred. It took the form away from him and he cried out, waking up.  
  
As Squall looked around his room he suddenly heard a deafening boom and a scream. QUISTIS! He shot out of bed suddenly realizing just how important she was to him. Without her he would crumble. He saw when he got into the hall a horrible sight. It was the whole portion of the hall blown away and Quistis with a bloodied back lying on the ground.  
  
"No!!!" Squall cried out.  
  
He raced over to her side and saw a piece of metal that was wedged into her spine. Alone. Always. He blacked out at the sight of her.  
  
{Don't give up she can still be saved}  
  
[Alone always. Why me?]  
  
{You will never be alone as long as you believe.}  
  
[Rinoa, Quistis the only two I could ever have loved.]  
  
{That's why you need to not fall into despair.}  
  
[No reason to live.]  
  
{Only if you think that way.}  
  
[Rinoa my love left me.]  
  
{Others need you.}  
  
[Quistis, my best friend, died.]  
  
{You don't know that!}  
  
[No reason to fight anymore.]  
  
{Think of Kirst.}  
  
[...]  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Selphie climbed through the hole in the wall of the Garden to see Irvine battling some assassin.  
  
"GO! Save Quistis!"  
  
Selphie ran out into the hall to see the piece of metal in Quistis' back. Squall lay near her with no apparent injuries. She pulled the metal out of Quistis' back and cast cure on her. Selphie picked up Quistis and ran through the developing crowd to the infirmary.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Siefer presented the somewhat haggard looking angel to Juile. Juile smiled lightly she hooked the girl into a machine.  
  
"Take Siefer away and give him my 'accommodations'" she said with an audible quotation on accommodations.  
  
Three burly men put shackles on Siefer and a weak sorceress muted him. He yelled unheard profanities at Juile as he was dragged away. She turned her attention back to Rinoa who was sitting on the chair calmly as if nothing was happing. The mind control device worked well even against the best sorceress in the world. She began the process to extract the powers from Rinoa to her. She smiled as her plans were coming along nicely.  



	7. 7

Quistis was in intensive care. She had been healed on the outside but the spine on the inside needed to be repaired before the body could survive. When Selphie had been running for the infirmary she had activated Quistis' life saver. It was the only thing that had managed to save her. When she had gotten to the infirmary she couldn't walk. All movement below her waist was gone. In order to restore that they would have to open her up and cast a surgical cure on her spine. Her life saver was not holding out well and the doctors couldn't tell why. They were also to try to find out why when they opened her up.  
  
The doctors, for the surgery, had to put her asleep. The effect was unnerving. She had no heart beat, she didn't breathe, and her eyes were closed. She might as well be dead and they wouldn't have a way of knowing if she did die because the life saver gave out. As they opened her up the doctor gasped. That would do it. The piece of metal had had poison on it. Magic poison. The bomb must have been a magically poisoned bomb. It had eaten the entire lower spine and was working on the rest of her. They began to nullify the poison, a slow process.  
  
Squall was fighting in himself to not give up. Half of him wanted him to not give up on love and the other half was going to give up and die.  
  
{You don't understand, people here need your leadership if you are gone the world might fail!}  
  
[Whatever...]  
  
{Do you even care about others' feelings?}  
  
[Why should I? Anytime I have I have lost the person.]  
  
{Not true. You care about Kirst otherwise you would not have made her feel better after you yelled at her. You care for her and you know that she would be devastated if you died}  
  
[She will get over it]  
  
{Rinoa needs you.}  
  
[She has Siefer.]  
  
{Siefer will never last with her he is too full of himself}  
  
[She said herself that it gives her confidence when she is around him]  
  
{She loves you.}  
  
[I wish]  
  
{More importantly you love her}  
  
[Rinoa...]  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Finally Quistis woke and found that she still couldn't move her legs.  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"We're so sorry. Your spine was dissolved in a poison the bomb carried... you won't ever walk again... We're sorry we tried."  
  
A single tear fell down Quistis' check but then she willed herself to reality. Squall needed her to be composed now not all weepy. There would be time to cry later.  
  
"Where is Stave?"  
  
"He is in a coma, ever since you died..."  
  
"I was dead?"  
  
"Medically"  
  
"Oh. Can I go over to him?"  
  
They brought over a hoverchair, which she got into and floated over to Stave. She held his hand for a while when she heard him whisper, "Rinoa..." She immediately knew it. He needed her weather she loved him or not. She began to arrange a search for Rinoa.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa needed him weather he loved her or not. After Juile had taken her powers she went to the doctor who checked her up. The doctor found that she was pregnant. Siefer had gotten her pregnant in one night. She was shaking from head to toe. It was almost too much to take in. She also felt as if a part of her was missing. The magic was gone and she felt it. It was a horrible feeling.  
  
"I have to be strong." She said to herself.  
  
Rinoa headed out to go find a way to the garden.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Juile was absorbing the energy. After they had thrown the girl to the streets she had begun to pull in the power. At first it seemed that the power couldn't come at this speed for very long but it had been three hours. The energy now seemed endless. Juile now realized that the girl had only been tapping into 1% of the energy and her mother had only been using .5% of the energy. Perhaps the process of extraction and reentry made the power more obvious. She smiled at the amount of energy she had. It was already enough to destroy the earth in a single spell and the power readings said that she had just reached 20%.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall was using all the effort he had to stay alive now. It was difficult because he had let his body begin to shut down. How he had done it was beyond him and it was far from effortless to pull himself conscious. His mind had to will his body awake and the will he had left was diminishing. It was slightly horrid to know that your body is shutting down and you are wearing out to stop it. Squall fought on.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Quistis was entering searches in all the databases she knew of. There wasn't much time to try to find Rinoa. She had managed to get off Balmb. She knew that because she was seen getting into a plain with a man wearing white just hours ago. She needed to find out where the plane had landed. Selphie walked up behind her and said, "Whatcha looking for?"  
  
"Rinoa."  
  
Selphie smirked. Quistis was going about it the hard way. Selphie logged into the computer next to her and pulled up about thirty windows all on searches. Her fingers flew across the keyboard and suddenly she had the computer searching next to every network out there. She smiled angelically at Quistis who let out for the first time in a long time a laugh.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
When Rinoa got to the airport to get a flight she was surprised to hear, "Rinoa Heartilly if your are in the building head to the front check in stand. Rinoa Heartilly."  
  
She headed up to the front and saw that there was a flight prepaid for by the Garden all ready for her. She shrugged and boarded the flight.  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have again put out the rough draft because I wanted to get it out there. Please excuse any errors that might have been in this. The Thorn and Zorn of this look nothing like the ones from FF9 and also have nothing of a personality like them. Just wanted to clear that up. Umm please review this other than flames that is because if you feel you have nothing good to say then don't read my stories and don't say anything. If you have read all the way up to here you must like it.]  



	8. 8

Rinoa felt horrible. She had had everything break from her in about half a year. Squall had left, Siefer had raped her, and her powers were gone. The empty feeling inside her was abysmal. She felt that after seeing Squall one last time she would end her life. No one cared about her. She had merely been a toy for everyone. Squall, Siefer, and Juile had all just used her and thrown her aside.  
  
"No," she said, "I can't give up. I'll do it for my baby."  
  
Though it was still a complete shock to her that she was pregnant she knew that she needed to be there for her baby. She loved it even though it was half Siefer. She had to take care of it. 'Why me' she thought to herself as a tear fell down her check.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
"Squall's life is on a thread," the doctor reported to the headmaster, "He is suffering from heartbreak. He lost the two most important people in his life within the same year. His mind is shutting down and as long as he continues like he is he will be in a coma forever. He needs support but he can't get it while he is unconscious. Basically there is nothing we can do."  
  
The headmaster sighed. Squall was out just when he was needed. Selphie and Irvine had reported that Juile was planning to take all of Rinoa's powers. They had no clue if it had already happened but they did know that Rinoa was on the way.  
  
"Ok then, make sure that Rinoa makes it here safely."  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Quistis was sitting next to Squall fighting back the fear that was eating at her. 'What if he never wakes? What if he dies?' She had no clue what to do. Rinoa was on the way but would that even help? She was with Siefer and the memories might even push Squall even more over the edge and that was assuming that Squall woke to see her.  
  
"You need to sleep."  
  
Quistis turned to see Zell.  
  
"...Will he live?"  
  
"...I don't know." Zell responded.  
  
Quistis let a single tear slip down her check as she thought of a world without Stave. She needed him.  
  
"I can't sleep. I... don't know what to do... I don't think that I could live without him."  
  
"You need to be strong," said Zell.  
  
"..."  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Squall was tiring. All he had to do now was give up and slip into the ease of death. It would be the easy way out. What was he living for anyway? 'No! Those are the thoughts of a man about to fall asleep, because of cold, and never wake.' Squall continued to fight... a losing battle.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa finally got off the plane. She made her way out of Balamb to the Garden as she got there she saw some of the kids running up to her.  
  
"Rinoa! Hi! Where were you?"  
  
"I was out on a mission," she responded lightly.  
  
"Squall was sad without you," one of them said.  
  
"He was?"  
  
"Now he is unconscious."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Quistis was hurt and he blacked out."  
  
Rinoa ran to the infirmary.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Juile felt the power surround her. More power then ever known was in her hands. She smiled as she began to lift off the ground. Black wings sprouted from her back as she launched into the air. All she had to do now was create a place for herself. Then she could slowly take over the world.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
Rinoa made it to the infirmary to see her only love, Squall on the bed. Tears flowed down her face as she saw it. The heart marker said that there was no heartbeat. All she had wanted was to talk to him one more time.  
  
"How ironic it is..." said the nearby Quistis.  
  
"What?" Rinoa said through a sob.  
  
"Both of the people he lived for a really actually here for him to whole time."  
  
"Where... where is Gil?"  
  
"Who is Gil?"  
  
"Squall's wife..."  
  
"Squall doesn't have a wife, he has been heartbroken since you ran off with Siefer."  
  
A thousand questions flooded through Rinoa's mind. No wife? Was Squall saying that Gil was his wife a sick joke? How did he know that I was with Siefer?  
  
"I-I don't understand... I saw him with a woman he called Gil... He said that she was his wife..."  
  
Quistis looked at Rinoa with some hatred. "How can you say that after breaking his heart. He has and will love no one but you; I know that now. All you can do is concoct lies about some woman that he was with?"  
  
Rinoa's eyes flashed angrily. "It is not a lie. Squall left me for another woman. It was the day that he asked her to marry him that I saw the ring. I thought it was for me so I was overjoyed," Rinoa's voice broke and then she continued, "I eventually found him later that day. He said that he had asked this girl named Gil to marry him and then he kissed her."  
  
Quistis slapped Rinoa. Her eyes flashed with pain and anger.  
  
"How can you say that-" Quistis started but was cut off by Irvine who saw the ensuing fight.  
  
"I know what happened... it was Juile. When we were caught by here we heard some of her men speaking about shapeshifters."  
  
That stopped both Rinoa and Quistis dead. Rinoa's tear streaked face was suddenly filled with horror. She had left Stave when he had never even thought of leaving her. She suddenly sat and it hit her. Juile had all of the sorceress's powers in the world, she had destroyed the most prestigious Garden leader, and she had control over Galbadia. She was plotting to take over the world.  
  
"So you really did love Squall the whole time?"  
  
"Yes, when I left Siefer found me. He," She gulped and continued, "Seemed to want to be kind to me and we began to go out. Then I found out that he was working for Juile. He put, put a mind controlling device on me and," she sobbed unable to go on.  
  
"So Juile has your powers..."  
  
"Yes," she sobbed, "and now Squall is gone."  
  
"He isn't."  
  
"What?"  
  
We had to put him on a Life Saver. I didn't tell you because I wanted to see if you really did love him."  
  
Rinoa was speechless.  
  
Cid came in followed by Zell, Selphie, Irvine, and Xu.  
  
"Report," Cid said to Rinoa who mostly out of habit came to attention. She then realizing that she was no longer under Cid's command. Quistis had obviously tried to stand but it was to no avail. Rinoa didn't understand why she was in a wheelchair but she had guesses.  
  
"Apparently Juile did manage to get Rinoa's powers by separating Squall and Rinoa. They used shapeshifters to fake that each one hated the other causing Rinoa to leave. She found Siefer who took her in and then used a mind control device. At that point he took her to Juile's castle where she extracted the powers."  
  
"Anything else to add Rinoa?"  
  
"Well Siefer, he did more... I, I don't know how to say this but he raped me, and now I am pregnant."  
  
Silence followed. Squall stirred.  
  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry that it took me so long to get this out here. I just finished FF9 and it was very good I had that on my mind and could not focus on this. If you have any questions or comments then you can email me at Stpat@worldaccessnet.com. Feedback is GREATLY appreciated. Flames just get printed and burned.]  
  



	9. 9

Chapter 9  
  
Juile's hair had turned a jet black and all of her skin had tinted Grey. The power was truly coming into her. Her black wings spread out and her blood-red eyes shined like lazerlights. She was ready to create her new home. She pulled fourth her power like a child playing with a new toy. Juile created a floating palace in the water near Balmb. It was shining with hundreds of lights in all different colors. They all flew out giving the place a look of an aura.  
  
Juile's hair had turned a deep black as the power had set into her. Her skin had gone from pale to a dark Grey and the wings that had sprouted were both as black a night. As she drew fourth power to create a flying palace her eyes began to glow red and a reddish glow surrounded her. She truly looked evil. Juile pulled fourth power like a child playing with a new toy. As she formed it into a palace not unlike Ultcimia's she laughed. She had all the force she needed now. If need be she could and would destroy the planet, but it was the key to her plans.  
  
Juile formatted the final form of the castle and choose her best servants to come with her to it. All of the others were dismissed, to the afterlife. All she did was put down a single hand and they all fell down dead. There wasn't even a mark around them. She launched high up into the air and landed down on her castle. All she needed now was Squall, the key to the planet's force.  
  
She and her servants walked to the center of the castle, the throne room. All of them made up a collection of about 130. The castle, to be run correctly, needed at least 300,000 workers. All of these servants wouldn't like being butlers either. They were all specialists in weapons or politics and other various things. They would not be very willing to do housework.  
  
"Juile, why do we not take the Gardens and the planet by force now. From what you have said you right now have enough power to destroy the Solar System," said one of the politics specialists.  
  
Juile's eyes flared more red in annoyance as she said, "Don't you get it. I already told you. Squall is a Soul Guardian."  
  
"And what might that be?" He said with a smirk.  
  
She looked down upon him as if he was a bug. How could he not understand? "Soul Guardians are produced by the planet with extreme power. They have the potential force to destroy the Solar System and more if that force is unleashed. Squall and Siefer are the two current Guardians. They actually don't know that they are, as most humans don't even know of the existence of them. The power they have has three conditions on it. The planet has to support what they are doing, which is a third of their power, they need to be loved deeply by someone, which is the second third, and they have to join together, the final third. If they only have two of these then they only have 2 thirds of their power. If I tried to take over the world now the planet would support them and the fight would be immense. Rinoa has also gone back to Squall and loves him deeply. I did not anticipate this so I will have to kill her to get rid of that third. The last third was taken care of by Siefer when he raped Rinoa. Now Squall will hate him and never join him. I only need to take out Rinoa, and then I can fight Squall. But keep in mind that if Squall gets all of the thirds his power is taken to the 34th power. If you can even imagine what THAT could do then I am shocked."  
  
"If he has all this force then why did he have trouble with your mother?"  
  
Juile rolled her eyes and said, "You annoy me in your pathetic mind. Of course Squall didn't have the power then because he was still lightly rejecting the idea of possible love. He was worried about it. The planet didn't support him because he was dead at the time he was fighting Ulticimia and the planet had already started to produce new Soul Guardians."  
  
"How do you know all this?"  
  
At that comment she blew the annoying servant into pieces saying, "I know."  
  
All of the other Servants awaited orders zealously.  
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\  
  
'Pregnant,' thought Squall.  
  
'How can she be pregnant. Siefer did this?'  
  
'Why did she go with Siefer in the first place?'  
  
[That is unimportant]  
  
{Wha? Who are you?}  
  
[It matters not who I am all that matters is that she loves you and I support you. You need to find Siefer and join with him]  
  
{Join with Siefer? Why?}  
  
[You are a Soul Guardian, he is too. When you join with him the ultimate evil can be defeated]  
  
{What about Rinoa?}  
  
[She doesn't matter as long as she loves you]  
  
{But I love her}  
  
[Irrelevant.]  
  
Squall shut off the voice in his head and stood up to see the crowd around him.  
  
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hopefully you thought that this chapter picked up a little bit. It was very short but it explains a lot more of the plot. PLEASE R/R. I need more if I am going to continue to write. If you really like it or have any questions email me at Stpat@worldaccessnet.com.]  



	10. 10

Squall sat up slowly, blinking. _Okay… where am I?_ _Right. The infirmary. I must have passed out after—Quistis!_ He turned suddenly, looking around the room. The sudden motion made his head hurt, but he ignored it.

He tried to speak, but his throat was dried up. All that came out was a slight scraping sound. Suddenly, as if signaled by this sound, everyone in the room jumped over to his bedside. It was quite a crowd.

"Squall! Are you all right, man?" Asked Zell, leaning over the bed.

Squall massaged his throat for a moment and finally managed to croak out, "Fine. Is Quistis… is she…" Though he'd gained back his ability to speak, words were failing him.

"I'm all right, Squall. Missing a piece or two, but I'll live." Xu stepped aside for a moment, allowing Quistis to awkwardly maneuver her wheelchair next to Squall's bed. Squall gasped.

"What happened?"

Cid spoke up, "There was an attack on the Garden. It seems that an assassin climbed up the side of the building and managed to plant an explosive on the hull. Teams are currently repairing the damage."

"Was the culprit found?" Squall still hadn't noticed Rinoa, who hadn't approached his bed when everyone else had.

Xu leaned over Quistis, "No, but we've got three SeeD teams on it. Currently we have no information whatsoever though. The culprit was obviously very well trained."

_Right._ _They'd have to be to get so close to the Garden without setting of Rinoa's wards… Rinoa!_

Squall suddenly blurted out, "Is Rinoa here? I thought I heard her voice as I was waking up."

The crowd looked awkwardly amongst themselves for a minute until they eventually parted, allowing Squall to look over at Rinoa.

/\/\/\/\/\

Julie found, to her moderate disappointment that the wings she had so nicely grown for herself weren't actually all that useful in flying. Assuredly, she could propel herself through the air, but the wings had absolutely nothing to do with it, and it was a trifle disappointing. Weren't evil sorceresses supposed to get wings that would help them fly to destroy their less evil counterparts? Oh well.

Julie was flying over the ocean towards Balamb. Her previous speech to her underlings was actually just so she could gloat over the kind of power that she was about to destroy. Unlike her mother, she had a good grasp on timing, and understood that attacking your enemies before they get a chance to unite and kill you can often be the best way to deal with them.

"Minions rarely work, at any rate…" she muttered to herself.

In actuality, she could have just teleported herself to the Garden, but she knew that they would pick her up on Rinoa's magical sensors that had been installed. Evil queens had to maintain at least a reputation of suspense with their victims, didn't they? It was kind of annoying that it would take her about five minutes to get to the Garden at this rate. To pass the time, she killed a nearby seagull.

/\/\/\/\/\

Rinoa locked eyes with Squall for a moment, and the look on his face was one of such hope, such pain, and such need that she could stand to be so far away from him. Cursing her tears, she began crying and ran across the room to him, throwing herself in his arms.

For a moment, he just laid there, not moving as she wrapped her arms around him and began to cry on his chest. After a moment though, he put his hands gently on her back and almost nervously tried to comfort her. For Rinoa, it was heaven—a broken, imperfect, and perhaps even irrevocably ruined heaven, but heaven nonetheless.


	11. 11

The crowd around Squall's bed shifted awkwardly for a moment, not knowing quite what to do. They were saved from figuring it out, though, by the piercing shrill of the alarm.

A voice shortly came on the intercom—the pilot, "Highly magical object coming toward the Garden at high speeds! Headmaster Cid's presence is requested immediately. All personal report to battle stations."

The effect this had on the room was galvanizing. Cid, Xu, and Zell quickly filed out of the room to go to where they were needed. Rinoa jumped off Squall, looking briefly ashamed of her outburst.

_Damn,_ thought Squall. _I'm finally about to get some answers to all of these questions and suddenly we've got Julie on our tails. Okay, I've got to figure out what's going on here._

"Quistis, could you quickly bring me up to speed on what's going on?"

Quistis looked unsure, "I don't really understand it all myself, but I'll give it my best shot. As near as I can tell… well, after Rinoa left… ah, I can't start there…"

It was one of the first times Squall had ever seen Quistis out of her usual business-like self. "Quistis, there's no time to hedge. What kind of danger are we talking about here?"

"Julie has all of Rinoa's powers."

Squall blanched, turning to look at Rinoa. She was no longer in the room.

Cid finally made it to the lookout station at the top of the Garden. When he arrived the pilot stepped aside to allow him control of the front panel.

The pilot had been right. There _was _someone of a high magical caliber headed straight towards the Garden. The estimated time to her being in magical range was counting down on the front panel. Cid swallowed and turned to the pilot.

"Set a course away from the sorceress. Full speed. Initiate—" the headmaster stumbled on his words. Finally he let his head sag. "Initiate evacuation procedures."

If what Rinoa said was true, then there was no way that the Garden could stand up to Julie. There was simply no force in the world that could hold its own against her.

_I can't believe that!_ Thought Cid. _There has to be a way to beat her…_ Cid stumbled a bit at the Garden's sudden acceleration. _Today isn't the day to make that stand._

He shook his head as if clearing cobwebs and looked again at the timer until Julie would be able to hit them with her powers. Two minutes.

The Garden was in a state of very controlled chaos. Everyone was making their way to the emergency exits, running as fast as they could, yet their Seed training made the operation much more organized. They were forming lines and it was eerily silent, except for the annoying screeching of the alarm.

Squall was not making his way towards any of the exits. He was trying to find Rinoa. He hadn't seen her in four months and damn it all if he was going to just lose her in these crowds. Eventually as the Garden began to clear out, he decided that she must have already left.

Little did he know, that moment that he'd seen her in the infirmary would be the last time he would see her in a long time.

One minute, thirty seconds.

Julie began to gather together some of her magic force. Raw magical energy was difficult to harness. She'd realized when she'd tried to destroy an oil-ship that she flew over. The regular Ultima spell was easy to pull off—almost laughably easy—but it barely made a dent in the huge metal ship. She'd stopped momentarily to destroy it, and it had taken quite a while to gather the necessary energy.

_I suppose I'll just have to design more powerful spells. Then I'll be able to more easily cast them. Hell, I might be able to make a draw point and have my hired help cast the powerful spells. I wonder if there are limits to this?_

And so she found herself pulling up energy. It was going to take a lot of force to destroy the entire Garden in one blow. But then, if something was worth doing, it was worth doing right.

One minute.

Rinoa had barely managed to avoid cid as she climbed up to the top of the Garden lookout. He had been on his way down the elevator to evacuate. She'd just barely dove behind a nearby plant to hid herself. Finally, he was gone and she made her way up to the top. Walking over to the panel next to the headmaster's desk she entered a code. A long time ago she and the headmaster had talked about this possibility. They knew that the Garden might face missiles from Galbadia or something like that that it couldn't run from.

Rinoa had developed a shielding spell that would hold the Garden together. She had been the only one strong enough to use it, and they didn't want it stolen, so they'd hidden it in the panel by his desk. Cid had calculated by the energy in the spell that if anyone who didn't have her powers used the spell, they would probably kill themselves, or at least hurt themselves, but it would reflect an enormous amount of energy back on the source of the attack.

_Even if I die… I'll save everyone from my mistake. I just hope... my baby…_

Rinoa steeled herself to do what she knew she had to do, and took the final elevator to the upper platform.

Thirty seconds.

Squall, Cid, and Xu sped across the countryside in one of the cars that Balamb Garden for some reason still had. Everyone that could be was loaded up and was now getting away from the Garden as fast as possible. They knew that with Julie's powers, it was most likely that the Garden would not survive this.

Squall was left with a bad feeling, though. _Of course I've got a bad feeling! The place I've called home for years is about to be destroyed!_ Nonetheless, he couldn't shake the feeling. He pulled out some binoculars and looked back at the Garden, scanning it up and down.

Wait? What was that at the top?

Zero seconds.


End file.
